Barack Obama is among the fans of this vibrant indie singer whose
music celebrates her Mexican-American heritage
“Enough with the Cadillacs and the Hampton estates,” snarls Angelica Garcia on It Don’t Hinder Me, an arresting whirlwind of a track that sounds like Bikini Kill crashing a rooftop party in
Mexico City. Instead of these faded markers of
American glory, the 26-year-old Mexican-Salvadoran-American wants to talk about “mango peeling in the kitchen at night”, about “the cooking that my grandmother made”, about “guava trees”.
Garcia’s forthcoming second album, Cha Cha Palace, is full of hyper-specific moments like this, evoking vibrant vignettes from her upbringing in the Latinx community of southern
California, via the east coast. Early 90s indie meets reggaeton and dancehall beats, along with traditional Mexican ranchera music (her mother, a Latin pop and mariachi singer, and grandmother both feature). Garcia’s voice ranges from sounding like she’s invoking ancient deities to a scowling teenager who doesn’t want to tidy her room.